The department of rehabilitation and corrections revealed changes to address concerns with the way it had been executing death row inmates.

The changes come following the botched execution of Romell Broom.

Broom's attorney said he was stuck 18 times, trying to inject the three-drug combo.

After two hours of trying, the execution was stayed.

The state has been looking for alternatives to its three-drug cocktail since a federal judge said it couldn't go forward with a second planned execution attempt of Romell Broom.

DRC officials said should a case like Broom's happen again, the state will forego intravenous injection and instead inject the drugs directly into muscle.

 "We now have a backup, which is the intramuscular process, which is one of the issues we had with not having a backup procedure," said the DRC's Terry Collins.

The other change will set a national precedent as Ohio will switch from a three-drug combination to using a single drug.

The old protocol used three different drugs - the first puts the inmate to sleep, the second paralyzes the muscles, and the third stops the heart.

Now that protocol will be replaced with a massive dose of the first drug.

The change drew praise from the Ohio Public Defender's Office, who said the state has set a standard.

"Ohio has now set a national standard and has become the first in the United States to truly address concerns that have been expressed for years and years and years," said Tim Young.

Young said he still has concerns including how many times an inmate will be stuck before the intramuscular backup is implemented.

"I'm not going to put a number on that because every case can be different," Collins said. "We'll make those decisions as needed."

The state plans to implement the changes by Nov. 30.

A federal court will have to life the stay of execution before the state can proceed with its next scheduled execution, on Dec. 8.

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October 20, 2009:  Ohio's Death Penalty Procedures Under Review
October 19, 1009 : Hearing On Constitutionality Of Death Penalty Postponed
September 18, 2009:  Court Temporarily Halts Second Execution Attempt

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